A single-storey extension is a new ground-floor room built onto your house, usually at the rear or side, with its own foundations, walls and roof, creating a bigger kitchen, living space or bedroom without moving home.
We offer a single-storey extension across Kent, and Whitstable is one of the places we cover, along with nearby Herne Bay, Canterbury and Faversham. Before anything is agreed we visit, check the existing structure and talk through your options. You then receive a written quote setting out the full scope; for most homes in the South East it sits within £39,000–£84,000 including VAT.
- Guide price
- £39,000–£84,000 inc VAT
- Time on site
- 10–16 weeks on site
- Postcodes
- CT5
- Planning rules
- England
- Local area
- Kent
- Survey
- Free, with a written quote
What should you budget for a single-storey extension in Whitstable?
Prices for a single-storey extension vary from house to house, but in Whitstable most projects fall within £39,000–£84,000 including VAT. That reflects costs in the South East, about 12% above the national guide. Treat the table as a budgeting aid; the written figure follows a survey we carry out for free.
| Type of job | What it usually involves | Guide in Whitstable |
|---|---|---|
| Small extension (8–12m²) | A modest rear or side extension, such as a utility room or a slightly larger kitchen. | £24,500–£45,000 |
| Typical rear extension (15–25m²) | A kitchen-diner or family room with bifold doors and a rooflight or lantern. | £39,000–£84,000 |
| Large or wrap-around (30m² plus) | A wrap-around or wide rear extension, often with structural steelwork into the house. | £78,000–£146,000 |
Your price depends mostly on:
- Floor area, shape and number of corners
- Roof type, rooflights, lanterns and the amount of glazing
- Ground conditions, foundation depth and drains to divert
- Finishes, kitchen, flooring and heating specification
What do you get?
- Groundworks, foundations and below-ground drainage
- Cavity walls built and insulated to building regulations
- Flat or pitched roof, with rooflights or a lantern if specified
- Steel beams to open into the existing house
- Windows and external doors, including bifolds if chosen
- Plastering, screed floor and internal doors
What are homes like around Whitstable?
Kent's older buildings include oast houses, weatherboarded cottages, Wealden timber-framed houses and Kentish ragstone walls. Medway towns have long rows of Victorian terraces, Margate and Ramsgate have Regency and Victorian seafronts, and Ashford, Maidstone and Dartford have seen large new estates alongside interwar and post-war housing.
One of England's sunnier, drier counties, but Thanet and the coast are windy, and Weald and London Clay soils can shrink in summer.
That variety is why a guide price for a single-storey extension in Whitstable is only a starting point; the survey shows what your particular property needs.
Do you need permission in Whitstable?
For anyone in Whitstable, the relevant framework is England's. The summary below is general, so we always contact the council about your address before putting a price in writing.
In England, many single-storey rear extensions are permitted development: typically up to 3 m deep on a semi-detached or terraced house and 4 m on a detached house, no more than 4 m high, and covering no more than half the land around the original house. Larger rear extensions can go through the prior approval process. Side extensions, flats, listed buildings, conservation areas and homes where permitted development rights have been removed need planning permission.
Building Regulations approval is needed for almost every extension, covering foundations, structure, insulation, drainage, ventilation and fire safety. If the work is on or near a shared wall or boundary, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 may apply.
Rules change and every property is different, so we check the planning history and constraints for your address before we quote.
The four stages
A visit to your home
It starts with a survey at the property, free of charge. We check condition, access and services, ask how you want the finished result to look, and answer any questions you have about a single-storey extension.
Your fixed price
The quote arrives in writing, not over the phone. It covers the full scope, the finishes you've chosen, any exclusions and the payment schedule, with a fixed price tied to that specification.
Plan and prepare
With the quote agreed, we book the work in and handle preparation: permissions where needed, building control notifications, material orders and access arrangements for your Whitstable property.
On site to finish
The work is carried out to the agreed specification, with floors and furniture protected and the site kept tidy. At the end we clean up, walk through the finished job with you and hand over any certificates.
Why homeowners choose us
Single-storey extensions in Whitstable: questions
Do I need planning permission for a single-storey extension?
Whether you need planning permission depends on the extension's size and height, how close it is to boundaries, your home's location, whether it is listed or in a conservation area, and which UK nation you live in. In England, many rear extensions up to 3m deep on a semi or terrace, or 4m on a detached house, can be built under permitted development. We check the rules that apply to your home before quoting.
Do you cover Herne Bay, Canterbury and Faversham?
Yes. As well as Whitstable, we cover Herne Bay, Canterbury and Faversham and the rest of Kent. Our coverage is UK-wide, so the process is the same wherever you are: a free site survey, a quote in writing that fixes the price for the agreed scope, and one point of contact while the work is planned and carried out.
Do I need an architect for an extension?
You need proper drawings for an extension, but not always a full architect service. A designer or architectural technician can produce planning and building regulations drawings, and a structural engineer provides beam and foundation calculations. If you already have drawings, we price from them. If not, we can arrange the drawings and calculations as part of the project so everything is coordinated from the start.
Which postcodes in Whitstable do you cover?
We cover CT5, along with the rest of Kent. If your postcode is not listed, get in touch anyway: our coverage is UK-wide, and we can usually arrange a survey wherever you live. Enter your postcode in the guide-price tool or contact form and we will confirm.
How much does a single-storey extension cost?
A typical single-storey rear extension of 15–25m² costs £39,000–£84,000, built to a plastered finish ready for your kitchen and decoration. As a guide, allow roughly £1,600–£2,800 per square metre plus fixed costs for groundworks, steelwork and fees. Smaller extensions cost more per square metre. The kitchen, flooring and large glazed doors are usually the biggest extras. We confirm a fixed price for the agreed specification after the survey.
Nearby towns
Addresses in CT5 are all covered for Whitstable, along with Herne Bay, Canterbury and Faversham close by. Give us your postcode when you get in touch and we will confirm the details.